We’re All Ministers of God
Let's move on to 1 Timothy chapter 3 this week. What we're going to see as we unpack it is that Paul is talking about those people who want to be overseers of churches - pastors, or ministers, as we might call them. He also talks about deacons, and the type of person a deacon should be, and then about women too, and the type of people they should be.
Maybe you read a passage like this and you think "oh, this is for the ministers, I don't have to pay any attention to this!"
Well, think again!
All Believers Are Called to Ministry
Let me read you a short little sentence in the Church of the Nazarene Manual, and it's true for all of us, Nazarenes or not. Paragraph 500 says: "All Christians should consider themselves ministers of Christ and seek to know the will of God concerning their appropriate avenues of service. The Church of the Nazarene recognizes a ministry of laypersons."
We're all called to ministry in some sense! There is not a believer of Jesus in all of history who isn't called to be a minister of the gospel. We're all just called to different types of ministries.
Ministry Is a Different Role, Not a Higher One
Our church does also believe in the clergy - that there are some whose specific ministry and calling is to lead church communities through preaching and administering the sacraments. Paul was talking to those who had that aspiration here.
But see, there shouldn't be a separation of clergy and laity when it comes to character.
To put it another way, lay people should never think that the clergy are holier than them, or closer to God than them, or more anointed than them, or anything like that.
It is simply a different role that a minister is called to play - not a superior role, just a different role!
Yes, it's a serious role, and the stakes are high when you are working in the ministry. But when Paul outlines the qualifications for someone who wants to minister, there's no Christian who shouldn't see those moral qualifications as necessary in their own life as a Christian.
Living Out Your Calling With Integrity
Are you with me!? Paul's words here are for people like me who are called to public ministry, but they also should convict you as you seek to live out a faithful Christian life in your own calling.
So, as we read them this week, let them speak to you about your character - however it is that God has called you to minister.
And remember, that you’re a minister just as much as me.
Jesus demonstrated that sometimes silent dignity speaks louder than words, especially when facing opposition or accusation. Learn when to respond with majestic silence rather than defending yourself with endless words.